


Migraines and Stomach Aches

by LMDrums



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Headaches & Migraines, Medicine, One Shot, Pain, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Sick Character, Sick Peter Parker, Sick Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 09:09:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17200685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMDrums/pseuds/LMDrums
Summary: Tony glanced at the clock that read 3:04 pm. Damn it. That meant Peter was going to be there soon. He had every intention of calling Happy and telling him not to bring Peter today.He had been seeing auras for the past couple hours. That meant a migraine. That meant utter agony until it passed. That meant locking himself in a dark room until it went away. He knew it would be coming on shortly.--or---Peter catching Tony during a migraine and tricking him into taking care of himself.





	Migraines and Stomach Aches

The last bell of the day finally rang and Peter ran out of the school. He was greeted by Happy in his silver Audi that was always parked in the same place just in front of the building. 

“Hey, Happy!” Peter remarked.

“Hey, Pete. Ready to go?” Happy replied. He was finally starting to get along with the kid and he found himself enjoying their interactions. 

“Yep! Got everything in my backpack,” Peter confirmed. 

The two got into the car and began their daily drive back to the Avenger’s Headquarters. 

******

Tony glanced at the clock that read 3:04 pm. Damn it. That meant Peter was going to be there soon. He had every intention of calling Happy and telling him not to bring Peter today. 

He had been seeing auras for the past couple hours. That meant a migraine. That meant utter agony until it passed. That meant locking himself in a dark room until it went away. He knew it would be coming on shortly.

Despite knowing that he was just making himself worse, he was still down in his lab fixing one of his repulsors. Every time he tried to do anything, his thoughts were interrupted by his head that was beginning to wage war on him. He simply forgot to call Happy. 

It was too late to fix it. Calling Happy now would mean Peter hearing the conversation, and he was not about to let Peter know he had a migraine.

He knew he would have to go through with the day and try to keep Peter as far away from him as possible. The kid would definitely notice if he got close to Tony. 

Practically dragging himself into the bathroom, he looked into the mirror. His hair was a mess, there were purple bags under his eyes, and he could barely keep his eyes open. This was not going to go well. 

He groaned. He threw on a hoodie and pulled up the hood hoping to draw attention away from his face. He yearned for pain medicine. A migraine that had been building for the past couple hours was finally taking hold, but he didn’t want to cloud his mind. It was dangerous operating tools and running computer programs while on medication of any kind, especially his strong prescription for migraines. 

*****  
Peter ran down into the lab as soon as he entered the building. He knew the hallways by heart. 

“Mr. Stark! I need your help with some Calculus homework. May can’t help, so she told me to ask…” Peter’s voice trailed off as he spotted the genius. 

“Hey Pete,” Tony tried to sound somewhat lively. 

“Hey, Tony. Are uh… are you okay?” Peter was concerned with the man’s disheveled appearance. 

“I’m fine,” he lied. 

“Uh… No offense Tony, but you look awful,” Peter replied bluntly. 

“Thanks,” Tony turned from the boy to face his desk. He knew that he did, in fact, look awful. How good can you look when your head feels like it is going to explode? The lights were blinding him, and sent of Peter’s food that he brought was nauseating. 

“Jarvis, dim the lights please,” Tony called out.

“Certainly, Sir,” Jarvis replied, “May I suggest taking your medicine?” 

“Traitor.” Tony should have known the Jarvis would somehow let Peter know about his migraines. He got them frequently, so Peter would find out eventually, but Tony wasn’t one to openly reveal weaknesses. 

“What medicine?” Peter was confused. 

“It’s nothing, Pete. Don’t worry about it,” Tony assured him. He didn’t want the boy to get nervous for his well being. The kid had been through enough. 

“Like hell, I won’t worry about it. Have you looked in the mirror recently?” Peter’s reply came out rough and angry, but he was more worried. He didn’t want anything to happen to Tony. 

“Actually I have. I’m okay. Please believe me,” Tony pleaded. Peter wasn’t buying it. 

“Jarvis, what’s wrong with him?” Peter called out.

“Sir is suffering from a migraine. His medicine is in the bathroom,” the AI replied. 

Peter turned to look at Tony. It was obvious that the genius was in pain. The unusual comfy clothes, the dim lights, the poor posture. 

Not wanting to see Tony suffer any longer, he ran into the bathroom to find an orange bottle. It was a prescription for Tony that was half-full. Peter sighed. That meant Tony had them before today. 

Taking the pills and a cup of water in his hands, Peter walked back out to the lab where  
Tony was still sitting. He hadn’t moved or made progress on his suit repairs. It was obvious that he hadn’t made any progress on much that day from the looks of the workshop. It was relatively clean. 

“Here.” Peter reached out his hand and opened his palm to reveal two pills. 

“I don’t need them,” Tony replied. 

“Yes you do,” Peter was adamant, “Just take them.”

“I can’t take those and work. They make me fuzzy,” Tony replied with a softened tone. 

“Why are you working through this anyway?” Peter knew why. Tony was stubborn. 

“There is work to be done. Being an Avenger and being the primary stockholder of Stark Industries keeps me pretty busy believe it or not,” Tony answered, “and it doesn’t hurt that bad.”

Peter knew he was lying. From the looks of him, you would think Tony was dying. 

“Tony, you haven’t got anything done since I got here. Just take a break,” Peter begged.

Peter was tired of Tony’s ignorance of his own pain. The man was obviously self-destructive. He didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, and didn’t really talk to very many people. He pulled Tony’s hand into his own and pressed the pills into his palm. 

“Take them.” It wasn’t a question. It was a command.

“Fine.” Tony hesitantly took the pills from the boy and dry swallowed them. He hoped that the kid would leave him alone now.

“Well?” Peter began.

“Well, what?” Tony replied, obviously confused.

“Let’s go sit on the couch and watch a movie or something. Take a break.” 

“I’m fine. I need to keep working.” Tony wasn’t lying. He had so much work to do. It seemed like everyone needed something from him. 

“But--” Peter began.

“But nothing, Pete. I’m a grown adult, and I can make my own decisions. I know my limits.” Tony seemed annoyed. 

“I know Tony, but sometimes you just have to accept your limits,” Peter explained. 

Tony stayed quiet for a while after that. Throughout the next two hours, his migraine had taken a dramatic turn and the searing white pain that flashed through his head forced him to turn his music, lights, and thoughts off. He laid his head down on the workbench and squeezed his eyes shut. 

Thankfully, Peter was upstairs working on his homework, so he didn’t see Tony; however, Peter was doing investigating of his own. 

“Hey Jarvis,” Peter called out, “How long has Tony been getting migraines?” 

“I am not at liberty to discuss Sir’s medical history without a valid reason,” Jarvis replied.

“But there is a valid reason. Have you seen him? He is miserable,” Peter explained.

“Sir has taken his medication and has taken all the proper precautions regarding the issue. There is not much else he can do,” Jarvis replied.

“Is he still working?” Peter questioned.

“He is currently resting at his workbench in the dark. There is no work being actively completed,” Jarvis described. 

“Wouldn’t he feel better if he laid down for a while?” Peter felt conflicted. He didn’t want to overstep in the situation, but he knew the man would feel better if he accepted his limits.

“Sir usually waits out his migraine until they go away,” Jarvis answered, “He rarely has visitors over when they occur.” 

“Okay, thank you, Jarvis,” Peter replied. 

Peter was tired of Tony’s nonsense. He needed to lay down and rest. It was safe to say that working was only making his migraine worse, but Tony wasn’t going to accept that. Peter needed to figure out a way to get Tony out of the lab. 

Peter knew how much Tony cared for him, so he thought maybe if he faked being sick, Tony would go hang out with him on the couch. He decided on a stomach ache. Heading to the bathroom that was just off of the kitchen, he wet his hands and rubbed them down his face. He looked sweaty, but that wasn’t enough to fool Tony. To complete the fake out, he grabbed the trashcan out of the bathroom and hugged it to his stomach. 

“Peter? What are you doing?” A voice from behind him asked confused. 

Peter immediately knew it was Pepper. He had heard her voice so many times before. It was soft and calming. 

“Uh… nothing…” Peter mumbled. 

“Are you sick?” She walked up and put her hand over his forehead, “You aren’t hot.” 

“Yeah… I’m uh… not sick,” Peter replied. The more he thought about it, the idea of bringing Pepper in on the plan seemed better and better. 

“I uh… actually, I am faking sick. Tony has a migraine and this is the only way I could think of to get him to stop working.” Peter smiled hoping she would accept his deceptive plan. 

Pepper smiled back, “Sounds like a good plan to me. That man never stops working.”

“Yeah, he seems pretty miserable down in the lab. I already made him take medicine,” Peter explained.

“He shouldn’t be working if he took that. It kinda dulls his senses a bit, and he does some pretty dumb stuff sometimes,” Pepper laughed.

“Oh trust me, I know,” Peter laughed back. 

“I’ll help you out. I’ll go tell him you are sick and asked for him. Go lay down on the couch,” Pepper suggested.

Peter listened and did just as she said. He wrapped himself in a pile of blankets, dimmed the lights, and put the trash can on the floor in front of him. 

“Perfect,” Pepper nodded. 

She proceeded to make her way to Tony’s lab. Opening the glass door, she searched around the dark room for signs of life. No music and no light usually meant no Tony, but she knew he was down there. 

“Hey Tony,” she called out. 

“Yeah?” A groggy voice replied. 

“Hey Honey, Peter is sick,” she lied, “He asked me to come and get you.”

“He was fine an hour ago,” Tony was confused, “Did he eat something bad? I haven’t cleaned out the fridge in… a while.” 

“I don’t know, but he said his stomach hurts. He wanted you to go sit with him.”

“Okay, I’ll be up in a second.” Tony wasn’t up to caring for somebody else. He needed quiet and darkness. Just the thought of standing made him nauseous. 

Pepper nodded and headed back up to the main floor where she saw Peter still playing along. 

“He is coming up,” Pepper announced with a smile.

“Good.” 

A little while later, the two heard Tony trudging up the stairs. Pepper caught a glance of him in the light for the first time; it was too dark in the lab to see him properly. He looked horrible. 

Wincing at the light that was coming through the windows of the main floor, he called out, “Hey Jarvis, please turn off the lights… for Peter.” 

“Yes Sir,” the AI replied. 

“Hey Pete, what’s wrong?” Tony questioned. He honestly missed Peter’s response. He was swaying on his feet and rubbing his temples hoping that Pepper wouldn’t notice. 

“I don’t feel very good,” Peter replied. 

Silence filled the air as Tony tried to recollect what Peter just said. Peter felt bad for him. 

“Can you sit with me?” Peter asked to break the silence. 

“Uh… yeah… I guess for a little while,” Tony agreed. He didn’t want the kid to be alone. Despite what one might think, Tony Stark did have a heart. 

Tony walked over to the end of the couch where Peter’s feet laid and sat down. He breathed a sigh of relief as the soft cushions encompassed his body. Man, he was tired. He just wanted to sleep. 

Grabbing a pillow, he laid his head down and closed his eyes. It felt so good. The lab was cold and uncomfortable, but the couch was warm and inviting. Before he knew it, he was asleep. 

“Nice work, Peter,” Pepper commended. 

“Thanks,” he smiled, “wanna go watch a movie or something?”

“Sure, I actually came home early to spend some time with Tony, but he needs to sleep.” 

“Great! I just bought a new movie, it’s in my backpack.” Peter went over to his backpack and unzipped it to reveal the new disc. 

“Let’s go to the screening room. I don’t want to wake him up,” Pepper suggested. 

“Good idea, I’ll go get it started.” Peter left the room to go put the movie in and skip through the previews while Pepper made popcorn. 

The two spent the next couple hours watching Peter’s movie which they both actually enjoyed. After the credits began to roll, they started talking about Tony. 

“So how long has Tony been having migraines?” Peter questioned. He figured Pepper would know. 

“He has been getting them since he was in college. He used to get them really often, but he hasn’t had one in a while. That’s probably why he is reacting so badly,” she explained. 

“Oh, I feel bad for him,” Peter responded, “He works so hard, and he didn’t even stop for a migraine.”

“He is a busy guy,” Pepper explained, “but he needs to take care of himself.” 

“I’m working on teaching him,” Peter laughed. 

Around the corner from the screening room, Tony stood listening. He smiled. The kid cared about him, so did Pepper. It made him happy that there were people who actually cared for his well being although he was definitely going to get them back for tricking him, just not today. He stepped around the corner. 

“Hey. What did I miss?” He glanced at the screen.

“Oh, nothing, just a movie that Peter wanted to watch,” Pepper responded. 

“Feeling better?” Tony smiled. 

“Oh uh… yeah, I am actually,” Peter stumbled over his words. 

“Me too,” he smirked, “Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm struggling for a title for this work? Does anyone have ideas?


End file.
